40 Week Bump Date!

Well, folks, I didn't know if I'd have a 40 week update for you, but here we go!  This little lady is VERY content in my belly.  Perhaps she's enjoying all of the leftover Halloween candy??? Granted, I want her to stay put as long as she needs, but I cannot deny the fact that I am SO excited to meet her!

AMEN.

I am currently:  40 weeks and 2 days!

(Yep.  I am officially huge.  In lots of places, apparently.  Ugh.)

The baby is the size of: a pumpkin!  

Anything new this week?  Ha.  Story of my life.  Let's see...

Work:  I started my maternity leave on Friday, though today was supposed to be Day #1 (See below).  To make a long story short, there was a LOT of confusion at my school about whether or not I could work past my due date.  Then, I found out that I COULD, as long as I had a doctor's note.  However, when my doctor said that I wouldn't go past 41 weeks anyway, and I realized that with the holidays, I actually gain an extra 2.5 weeks of leave (brining my grand total to 14.5 weeks), I figured a few days to relax by myself & continue to get the house in order wasn't such a horrible idea:)

The House:  We're ready...well, mostly!  :) We have the basic furniture we need (see previous post) and the baby's room is ready!  I'll share the grand tour at some point, but I LOVE how it turned out!

Baby:  SO.  We had a bit of a false alarm on Friday AM.  I really don't want to get into details here, but I called the doctor and she said to go straight to the hospital.  However, after monitoring baby for an hour and running a few tests, it was determined that I was not in labor and was sent home.  As disappointed as I was, I suppose it gave us a nice little "trial run" of the real deal!  And most importantly, the little lady looks great!

I know.  I'm huge.  And I love it when people remind me of this.

Maternity clothes? (Same answer as 36 weeks!) Yes, although I am basically wearing the same 5-7 outfits all of the time now because I refuse to buy new clothing.

Stretch marks? (Same answer as 38 weeks!) Remember my "don't care" attitude about stretch marks?  Well, I have one.  And I can honestly say that I still don't care:)  

Movement? YES.  She continues to have really active periods in the early AM, late AM and evening.  I read that at this stage, the baby sleeps about 90% of the time in there anyway, so everything seems normal.

Food cravings? Honestly, my diet is pretty normal at this point, and I am trying to eat smaller, but more consistent meals throughout the day.  I don't want to go into labor with a belly full of Chipotle.

General symptoms? The usual:  fatigue.  Sore hips at night.  Having to pee every 10 seconds.  LOTS of cramping and pressure.

Workouts? Still walking!  Thank goodness for my parents and Mike.  As one woman said during a "track workout", "Girl, you look like you're trying to walk that baby out of you."  That's the plan, lady.

Just a few final thoughts:

* I'm not one to typically believe in this stuff, but I don't think I ever shared this story.  When I was running the Indy Mini-Marathon back in May (at about 15 weeks pregnant), I had a vision.  I NEVER have visions.  But in this vision, I knew that our baby was a girl (this was before we had our ultrasound), that she had blondish-reddish hair, she was FEISTY, and her name was __________ (Basically, our #1 name choice).  It was such a strange feeling, because it was such a powerful moment.  Additionally, I've been having dreams about our little lady recently too, and she seems to fit the above description.

* On a related note, Mike and I love to contemplate what she will actually look like, so I thought I'd share a few photos of US as babies.  Below is myself and my siblings, along with how much weighed at birth.  I truly hope my mother didn't pass these numbers down...

Left to Right:  Me (8.5 lbs), Kevin (10.5 lbs.), Mike (10 lbs.), and Molly (9.5 lbs).  We are all approximately 3 months old in these photos.

And this little nugget is Mike!  How cute is he???  He was graced with a full head of hair once he was a toddler, which is something I hope our little baby lady inherits:)  

There you go, folks!  The next time you hear from me, I will hopefully be sharing news about our little one!